Another bike store closing doors.. Los altos, CA

[velobaba]

Chainreaction located at Los Altos, CA will be closing store towards the end of September.

http://www.chainreactionblogs.com/diary/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/los_altos_closing.jpg

Jalal

[fiamme red]

Isn't that Mike Jacoubowsky's shop? He used to post regularly on the rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup.

[velobaba]

Isn't that Mike Jacoubowsky's shop? He used to post regularly on the rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup.

I believe that the Los Altos store is managed by his brother Steve. Mike
manages the Redwood City store.

[hokoman]

Yeah, big bummer. I worked there my summers of college from '94 to 98'. Steve and Mike are awesome, and they run an excellent business with customer service a top priority.

[oldpotatoe]

Chainreaction located at Los Altos, CA will be closing store towards the end of September.

http://www.chainreactionblogs.com/diary/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/los_altos_closing.jpg

Jalal

Well, sounds like it's a landlord/lease/$ issue, not lack of biz(altho no bike shop that closes says it's lack of biz)...Unless a service, SERVICE oriented shop that has a good and narrow idea of it's target market..I'd not like to be in retail these days...:(

[false_Aest]

I just wrote a whole bunch but it boiled down to this.

Every time I speak to a dealer and ask, "How are things?" They all say, "GREAT! Summer's here and we're selling!"

But across the board sales are down and more dealers are in credit jail.


More brands are moving to the B2C model thinking that it's the solution but I'm not too sure. Also those same brands keeps saying, "We're committed to the IBD/LBS."

...maybe...
I don't think so.

The herd will thin. The many of the strongest will be purchased by Trek/Specialized/Giant/Dorel.


----
I think we saw this before with hardware stores. Independents became TrueValue or Ace. Home Depot + Lowes killed the weakest of those. The independents that are left launder money.

[classtimesailer]

Moving into the e-bike business didn't keep the doors open. (Looking on the bright side.)

[Mark McM]

I just wrote a whole bunch but it boiled down to this.

Every time I speak to a dealer and ask, "How are things?" They all say, "GREAT! Summer's here and we're selling!"

But across the board sales are down and more dealers are in credit jail.


More brands are moving to the B2C model thinking that it's the solution but I'm not too sure. Also those same brands keeps saying, "We're committed to the IBD/LBS."

...maybe...
I don't think so.

The herd will thin. The many of the strongest will be purchased by Trek/Specialized/Giant/Dorel.


----
I think we saw this before with hardware stores. Independents became TrueValue or Ace. Home Depot + Lowes killed the weakest of those. The independents that are left launder money.


I don't think that's a good analogy right. Both TrueValue and Ace are both retailer-owned cooperatives. All TrueValue and Ace retail outlets are independently owned and operated, and each retailer owns a share of the cooperative.

There are similar cooperatives for bicycle retailers such as The Bike Cooperative (http://www.thebikecooperative.com). Who knows, these cooperatives may end up being the independent bicycle dealers savior.

[Hindmost]

Well, sounds like it's a landlord/lease/$ issue..I'd not like to be in retail these days...:(

The location in near ground zero for the silicon valley real estate boom. If you don't own your building, good luck.

[jds108]

The location in near ground zero for the silicon valley real estate boom. If you don't own your building, good luck.

On top of that, it's also a premium location IMO within the area. Certainly for a bike shop, but also for most kinds of retail.

[Bostic]

I used to frequent this store quite a bit when I lived in Sunnyvale. That shopping area is a very busy location and the Peet's coffee nearby a popular ride start/finish location. I always thought the store was fairly big for a bike shop in the area but am sorry to hear it's going to close.

[MattTuck]

maybe they weren't selling enough $300+ fits. :help:


If they were a good establishment, that sucks. Always a bummer to see the good guys have to fold up shop. Meanwhile, we've got more mattress stores than you can shake a stick at.

[false_Aest]

I don't think that's a good analogy right. Both TrueValue and Ace are both retailer-owned cooperatives. All TrueValue and Ace retail outlets are independently owned and operated, and each retailer owns a share of the cooperative.

There are similar cooperatives for bicycle retailers such as The Bike Cooperative (http://www.thebikecooperative.com). Who knows, these cooperatives may end up being the independent bicycle dealers savior.

definitely noted. thanks for the correction.